Main Street Armory Pet Expo

Here I am in front of the Main Street Armory in Rochester, NY. The armory was built in 1905 and designed by George L. Heins as headquarters for Western New York’s 3rd Battalion, the building has been used by various divisions of the National Guard. It also hosted circuses, auto shows, concerts and more. It was even the home of the Rochester Centrals, the city’s first professional basketball team from 1925-31. Most events shifted to more modern accommodations and the Armory was used primarily for the military until the 1990's until, they too, moved. The building sat vacant for about a decade, til it was bought and revamped. Once again the Main Street Armory is home of concerts and special events.

Interesting details abound inside.

This is the ladies room inside the Armory. I love when building parts get recycled.

What do you think these stall doors were originally?

When I visited, the Armory was hosting a Pet Expo!

Many local rescue groups had booths. Here's Lollypop Farm.

Rochester Animal Services is the other major shelter in Rochester, NY.

My new friend, Journey, told me all about the Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League.

GRASP is another local rescue group.

This is Rookie. She's collecting donations for Joyful Rescues-and hoping she'll find her forever home.

Boo is lucky. This 2 year old Saint Bernard found his forever home. Look at us-I'm about the size of his ear! His dad was happy to pose with us.

This lovely lady was dressed as a Bassett Hound to help her rescue group: New York's ABC Bassett Hound Rescue.






I had lots of fun. I made several donations and got lots of treats for my animal friends. If you have the opportunity, check out a Pet Expo near you!

Cabot Goes to School

In the beginning of March I paid a visit to my friend Mad's school.

Mad was able to tell her classmates all about my world travels, and those of Amelia too. We have been to so many places and have learned, and continue to learn, about many different cultures.

We also got to read a book together during story time. It was called Leah's Pony.

Cayuga Lake Wine and Herb Fest 2011

Today I went to the Finger Lakes region of New York for the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail's Wine & Herb Fest.

At each of the 16 wineries along the trail you get an herb or veggie plant along with some food made with that plant, the recipe, and some wine!

We had Peachy White Lavender Trifle here. Oh-we got a white lavender plant...not a peach tree.

What a gorgeous view.

I had a special treat for Melody, the Scottish Highland Cow, but she stayed in her barn at Buttonwood Grove Winery.

Another gorgeous view from the other side of the lake.

My new friend, Chip, gave me the lowdown on his winery, Long Point.

This was my 15th winery of the day. Am I a little blurry?

Look at the wonderful herbs and veggies I got today! There's cilantro, sage, rosemary, lemon thyme, basil, Thai basil, onions, fernleaf dill, tomatoes, peppers, oregano, sage, rosemary, savory, and white lavender.

Cabot Celebrates Easter in Arkansas

It’s been pretty rainy here in Arkansas but I managed to get in some Easter sunshine by checking out the egg collection on the mantle!

This picture has a Polish Palm in it that my hostess got from the Polish Arts Center in MI. They do not have palm trees in Poland, obviously, so certain areas make their own by bundling together brightly colored and elaborate dried flowers, wheat and grasses!

Here I am with a bowl of Pisanki. Pisanki are Polish Easter eggs. Aren't they beautiful?

My friend, Mad, and I colored our own Easter eggs.

I think we did a great job!

This was our Easter morning meal – I love the Easter butter lamb. Isn't he cute? The baranek wielkanocny is a traditional addition to the Polish Easter table. Amelia tells me you can find them everywhere in Western NY...but here in Arkansas my hostess had to make her own using a mold!

I really enjoyed my first Easter. I'm so thankful I got to share it with my new friends.

Springtime in the Ozarks

Well, it was looking like spring had finally sprung here in the Ozarks!  A few weeks ago we had several days last week of absolutely gorgeous 70 degree weather! Foliage is flowering and some green leaves are even starting to emerge on some of our trees!! But, as the fickle finger of Mother Nature can be sometimes, we dropped back down into the low 50’s during the day and down into the 30s at night these past few days!! It won’t last long, but we decided to head out for a while and snap some pics around town of our pretty flowering trees and such.

This Bradford Pear is a beauty!

The yellow blooms of the forsythia are a sure sign of Spring. Amelia says she can see the buds on the ones in her yard-but they aren't blooming yet!

I don't know the name of this bush-but it sure is pretty!

This Redbud tree is a pretty sight. I can't wait to see and explore more of Arkansas!

Cabot and the Libation of the Month Club

My hostess, Lynn, took me to a meeting of the Libation of the Month Club. She and her husband get together once a month with several couples and enjoy sampling several drink selections from a pre-determined liquor genre.  I wonder what we'll drink tonight?

This month was “Cuban drink” night and it was hosted by Lynn's next door neighbors, Kelly and Bobby. Kelly and Bobby prepared several Cuban drinks for us to try that they researched on the internet. We sampled an Almond Cigar cocktail, the Cuban Special Recipe, the Cuban coctel de papaya helado (which was a frozen papaya drink), and the Cuban cherry.  We all really enjoyed the Cuban wing shot – which was made with Kalhula, banana rum and a splash of grenadine!

They also prepared some wonderful foods for us to try as well!  We had Cuban style pork sandwiches with mango salsa and a great pina asada, which was grilled pineapple marinated with golden rum and brown sugar and cinnamon then grilled and served over vanilla ice cream. Here I am getting ready to sample the extremely yummy mango salsa!

And of course, no “Cuban drink night” would be complete without sampling a cigar – which in this case, unfortunately, was not from Cuba!!

 

You may have noticed the obviously missing “mojito” from the Cuban drink line up.  That is because the object of these monthly meetings is to experience drinks that members have never heard of or tried before to “broaden” our cocktail knowledge! I had a wonderful time...maybe I'll visit Cuba one day!

Raggy Rats

Amelia & Cabot are Raggy Rats handmade with love in the United Kingdom. We're thrilled that you follow our adventures...but did you ever dream of having a Raggy Rat of your own? Well you can! There are some Raggy Rats available now in our creators Esty Shop: The Raggy Rat. Go have a look and bring home a traveling rat of your own.